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The Rakastani Imperium
The island now known as the Rakastani Imperium first became home to the Rakasta in 237 SR when the catfolk arrived from another material plane. Refugees fleeing from ancient slave-masters whose identities have been lost to time; they were pursued by a clan of Rakshasa slave hunters sent to bring them back. They lived there in peace for over a century before their hunters finally found them. The Rakasta expected to be returned to their former masters, but to their surprise, the Rakshasa hunters had other plans. Rather than returning the escaped slaves to their masters, the hunters chose to enslave the catfolk themselves, becoming the new rulers of their island home. Their leader set himself up as the first emperor of the Rakasta, and the immortal fiend reigned for over six hundred years before a slave named Cho Calish led a revolt that killed the Rakshasa emperor's sons and sent him fleeing to the lower planes. In the aftermath, the suken priesthood cast a mist around the island to obscure it from their former masters and prevent their return, though a cult of Rakshasa loyalists remained secreted on the island. All travel and exploration beyond the Rakastani mists and surrounding seas was forbidden. The samurai took control of the island and a navy was formed to further dissuade visitors. Eventually, the Rakastani navy ran afoul of the Firbolgs, causing a series of skirmishes that eventually resulted in a treaty of peace between the Firbolgs, Searians, Kæri, and Rakasta. The peace lasted for centuries, though the vast majority of the Rakasta remained secluded on their island. The peace ended with the reappearance of the dragons in 2279 SR, when the near destruction of the Rakasta and looting of their cities resulted in their apparent disappearance as the mist surrounding the island grew thicker, spreading farther from the islands shores. The catfolk disappeared into legend for nearly 400 years until they finally reemerged... this time as conquerers once again in service to their Rakshasa masters. The Rakastani Imperium was reborn, the mists cleared, and the War of Sword and Claw was initiated as the catfolk attempted to move south onto the continent of Ceilar. They were pushed back, but the Imperium remains as a threat to the northern lands of Seawn. The animosity of the Rakshasa towards Seawn was elevated during the Third Incursion of Kaos, when a revolt in the city of Mizu led by Cho Sokai, descendant of the leader of the first slave rebellion. The Rakshasa shogun of Mizu was returned to Baator, and as a result, a score of Rakasta ships escaped to the mainland where they were accepted as refugees by the Searian Grand Duke, eventually settling along the easern shore and forming the nation of Cho, actions for this the Rakshasa have never forgiven the humans to their south. The island of the Imperium consists of an inland desert surrounded by rainforests and, to the south, tropical mountains. It is ruled by the Rakshasa emperor and his sons reborn from the depths of Baator, his fiendish shogunate. The suken priests and dervi monks of loyalist Rakasta help to keep the slaves in line, however over the last centuries, since the revolt in Mizu, the grip of the Rakshasa has become tighter as they have had to quell one attempted revolution after another.